Well, with nicer weather on the way, I figured it was time to put some new tread on the rear of the 'Jockey. Hey, the tires I built it with were 30+ years old when they got back on the pavement, and ....
let's face it, they're a bit worn. I had grabbed a pair of HPI V-groove, pro-compound 2.2's for the pro-stock bike project (that one is back in the box for now) and I recently ordered in another set of the Jato wheels. The HPI's tread matches the trucks front tires, so I decided to stretch them onto the Jato's ....
and the Pro-compound should hook up nicely. I went with a little different plan this time. Instead of wrapping the wheels with just tape, I started with a layer of cork roadbed for HO train track, then wrapped a few layers of tape to fill the rest.
After cutting the beads out and stretching them over the 2.8 wheels, they end up 93-mm tall and 50-mm wide, 2-mm taller than the old ones and same width.
And now the tread matches on all 4 tires .....
and the new tires still fill up 45% of the rear track width.
I'll need to make some test hits, but I expect the launches will get even better than before.
So far, I like 'em.
8)